Chop-grader



(No Model.) v

J. T. OBENGHAIN.

GHOP GRADER. l No. 308,977. Patented Dec. 9, 1884.

mnu Elli! F www@ Aumummnmi f Witnesses neeticn with the accompanying drawings, in

lmovable; E, an open-top cup within the caslhvrrnn tirarse .TOHN T. OBENCl-IAIN, OF

Parana* @raient LOGANSPORT, INDIANA.

CHOPHGRADER.

SPECIFICATEON forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,977, dated December 9, 1884.

Application tiled May 19, 1S84.

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. OBnNci-IAIN, of Logansport, Cass county, Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chop-Graders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for grading chop, scalping grain, and such like milling operations.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description, taken in conwhich- `Figure l is a vertical section of a machine, illustrating my improvement; Fig. 2, a side elevation cfa portion ofthe casingofthe same, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section of thc'same. Figs. 2 and 3 are upon a somewhat larger scale than Fig. l. V

The machine is in the form of a cylinder standing upright, and designed to elevate the material operated upon.

In the drawings, A represents the upper head of the machine; B, the lower head; (l, the outside cylindrical casing, formed of vertical staves, the alternate ones of which are to be secured rigidly by screws or otherwise to the top and the bottom heads; D, buttons attached to the rigid staves of the casing and serving to secure in place the intermediate staves, which are to be so litted as to be reing near its bottom; F, a space between the bottom of the cup and the lower head of the casing, G, feet at the base of the cup by which the cup is secured rigidly to the lower head of the casing; H, a cup-like rim depending, withinj the casing, from the upper head of the casing; l, a cylindrical sieve-jacket of wirecloth or other bolting material, disposed concentrieally within the casing and extending from the rim of one cup to the rim of the other, being united to both; J, vertical strengthening-ribs upon the outside of the sievejacket; K, rings at the bottom, center, and top of the jacket, secured to the vertical strips and serving to bind the parts of the sieve structure; L, an inlet-spout, by which `material is fed to the interior of the sieve-jacket at its bottom, the spout connecting with the bottom cup; M, a vertical shaft axially disposed in the ma- (No model.)

beater; Q, right and left hand screws disposed through and across the shaft in which they are journaled, and taking into nuts secured to the beater-boards; R, the driving-pulley of the machine; S, a sweeping-arm secured to the shaft and arranged to sweep the upper surface of the lower head of the casing; T, the outlet-spout for such of the material as has passed through the sieve-jacket; U, an air-inlet through the top head of the casing into the interior of the boxlike beater; V, gussets of rubber or cloth or other flexible material covering three of the four corner-cracks of the beater; V, an annular space between the sicvejacket and the casing, and X the space within the sieve-jacket.

The alternate staves of the casing, being rigidly secured to the top and bottom heads, serve as rigid frame parts for the machine,and thus permit me to dispense with the usual eXtra frame. The intermediate staves may be removed at will, thus rendering the interior of the machine readily accessible.

The sieve-jacket is formed in two longitudinal halves, and the rings K are divided diametrically,whereby the entire structure of the sieve-jacket is formed in two substantial pieces. The end rings of the jacket structure are rabbeted in order thatwhen the two parts 'of the jacket structure are put in place these rabbets will engage neatly with the rims of the top and bottom cups. The two parts of the jacket structure are to be held into position by joint bolts, by buttons, or by any other suitable means.

The conveyer-lights are so inclined as to convey material upward when the beater is in motion. They are preferablyformed of sheet metal inserted into saw-cuts in the outer faces of the beater-boards, and their peripheral contour should correspond substantially to a. circle.

IOO

The bolts Q are provided with collars at each side of' the main shaft in order to prevent end play of the bolts. There are lock-nuts outside the l beater-boards, and also square, so that theyl may be turned. There are two sets of' the screws, one set near each end of the beaterboards. The screws of one set pass through the shaft at differentlevels, so as not to interfere with each other. The office of these screws is to adjust the transverse dimension of the beater-box, which may be doneby turning the screws from the outside of the beater in an obvious manner. j

- The gussets V should be flexible enough to permit the ready expansion and contraction of the beater-box when adjusted by the screws. One of the corner-cracks is left open to form a blast-crack, and itis desirable, though not essential, that even this blast-crack should be provided with gussets at the ends of the crack, so as to limit the length of the blast-crack to the length of the sieve-surface of the jacket.

The closer a'rotary conveyer, or beaters aeting in conjunction with it, fits its surrounding jacket the more rapid will be the forward motion of the materialthat is, there will be less negative slipping of the material. I utilize this law in the regulation of my conveyer action. To increase the rate of feed through the machine I enlarge the beater and bring its peripheral elements closer toits surround ing jacket. To reduce the rate of feed I contract the size of the beater.

The material to be graded enters thc machine through the spout L, and thereby reaches the interior of the sieve-jacket. The beater elevates it and forces the finer matter through the sieve-jacket. The finer matter falls down the outside of the sieve -jaeket through the space WV into the spacell, where it is swept to the discharge spout T. The eoarser mattei', refusing to pass through the sieve -jacket at any time during its upward travel, is discharged through the spout U, which spout should be arranged tangentially with reference to the sieve-jacket. 4

The rotation of the beater would naturally produce a blast outward through to the sievejacket, in case the air had admittance to the space X between the outside of the beater and the inside of the sieve-jacket; but my experience has shown me that this blast is very feeble in its effect, as itiinds an outlet through the entire area of the sieve-cloth. The sieve-cloth is really subjected to the action of compressed air, rather than to the action of an air-blast in current. The consequence is that flour lodges upon the outside of the sieve-cloth and gradually reduces its efficiency, the weak outflow of the air through all of the interstices of the cloth at once not being sufficient to dislodge the flour. In my device I admit the air to the inside of the beater and revolve the eolumn of air with the beater. Centrifugal force tends to throw this air outward, but it can only escape through the single open outlet or blastcrack I. The effect of this arrangement is to subject the sievejacket to the action of a sharp, thin, vertical, and forcible blast of air concentrated upon a very limited area of the sievejacket. This traversing forcible blast effects the entire jacket during the rotation of the beater.

The beater may have more or less than four sides, and internal fan-blades may be added, if found desirable, to increase the effect of the blast.

In the construction set forth the beater-box forms the air-pressure-prodncing element of the machine; butv it is obvious that the air may be compressed elsewhere and conveyed to the interior of the beater, which may then serve as a wind-box provided with a longitudinal blast-crack.

I claim as inyinventionl. In a chop-grader, the combination ofthe alternate fixed staves of the casing, the intermediate removable staves joining the edges thereof', the lower head having the alternate stavcs rigidly secured thereto, and the upper head rigidly secured to the alternate stavcs, constructed as set forth, whereby the alternate stavcs form the sole support for the top head, and the usual framework exterior to the casing is dispensed with.

2. In a chop-grader, the combination of a cylindrical jacket, a rotary conveyer within said jacket, several longitudinal series of inclined flights attached to said conveyer, and

means, substantially as set forth,for adjusting the exterior diameter of' the conveyer, and thereby regulating `the rate of conveyance without altering the inclination of the flights or lthe speed of 'the machine.

3. In a chop-grader, the combination of a vertical circular sieve-jacket, a flat-sided hollow beaterbox with a single Vlongitudinal blast-crack at one of its peripheral corners, and several longitudinal series-of inclined eonveyer-fliglits secured to the beater-box.

JOHN T. OBENCHAIN.

fitnessesz W. A. Snwa'nn, J. W. Sian. 

